A coalition of 100 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on Tuesday claimed cartels and dark forces are working to bring down the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The coalition comprising Peoples Alliance for Indigenous Rights, PAIR, Center for Public Accountability and Transparency, CPAT, Society for Civic and Gender Equity, SOCEGE and 97 others revealed that the anti-graft agency’s battle has made certain elements uncomfortable who are now out to rubbish the laudable achievement of the EFCC chair at all costs.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja, the lead director, Chief Dominic Ogakwu, said, the EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa was under attack for the wrong reasons by corrupt elements who want to derail his mandate.
Ogakwu who was flanked by other CSO leaders at the conference called for support rather than vilifying the agency.
He said: “There are attempts by dark forces to derail the anti-graft agency from staying focused on its mandate of tackling corruption.
“Ordinarily, as Nigerians and members of the civil society, we would have let the rabble-rousing, attention-seeking and lucre-driven individuals to carry on with their show of shame.
“But to keep quiet at such a critical moment when a young man has brought passion, vision, purpose and grit to fighting established cartels, corrupt institutions, dubious individuals and their likes would be unkind to posterity.”
He said further: “It should be stated unequivocally that Mr Bawa, the youngest EFCC chairman so far, is a man of ideas whose time has come.
“He is young but endowed with the wisdom of ages as he has demonstrated capacity in cleaning the Augean Stable of corruption in our country, Nigeria.”
According to the group, the latest vitriolic attack by some elements was occasioned by EFCC’s crack-down on “politically-exposed persons, banking malfeasance, contract compromises, procurement fraud, illegal oil bunkering, and advanced fee fraud (Yahoo-Yahoo) and other havocs of financial fraudsters against the nation.”
